BASF appoints new head of Crop Protection for Asia Pacific

BASF has appointed Dr. Raman Ramachandran as Senior Vice President of the company’s Crop Protection division for the Asia Pacific region. In his new role, Ramachandran will drive the division’s ambitious growth plans in the region, which saw an 11 percent increase in sales last year.

"Raman has made enormous contributions to BASF since he joined in 2000,” said Markus Heldt, President of BASF Crop Protection. “He was instrumental in putting together our growth strategy for India and subsequently for the entire Asia Pacific region.”
 
Ramachandran, who received a PhD in Agriculture from the Waite Agricultural Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Australia, joined BASF in 2000 and has held various senior management positions in the Asia Pacific region.

Last year, BASF announced a new annual sales target of €1 billion by 2020 for the Asia Pacific region (AgroNews 2011-11-09). One integral piece of this growth strategy has been the Samruddhi farmer training and business program.

The Samruddhi program began in 2007 in the province of Madhya Pradesh, India. It connected BASF agronomists with 30,000 soybean growers to boost their yields and profitability sustainably. Five years later, the program now involves over 225,000 soybean, onion and potato farmers across India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. It serves as a blueprint for business growth throughout the Asia Pacific region and other emerging markets.